Them’s The Breaks
We know what’s happened since. Parsons knees have betrayed him, limiting the small forward to just 34 ineffective games this season. His contract, less than a year old, looks like a disaster. The team just lost a hard-fought first round series to the Spurs in six games following an up-and-down year in which they relied on replacement-level players to give them meaningful minutes. David Fizdale’s memorable quotes following his team’s loss in Game 2 may go down as the most memorable thing about the 2016-17 Grizzlies.
Despite the early playoff exit, Conley wrapped up what was for him a personal best season-long performance. He still missed out on the All-Star Game, thanks largely to the bevy of MVP candidates in his conference who happen to play his position. That doesn’t change the fact that no one would call year one of his mammoth contract a disappointment.
What also isn’t changing is this team’s ceiling. Neither Conley or Gasol can play much better than they did this year. Parsons’s contract is untradeable, and even if he regains his pre-injury form, the rest of the team’s primary pieces (outside of JaMychal Green, a restricted free agent) are moving further and further away from their prime. Because it has roughly three quarters of its cap space tied up in three players, the team lacks the requisite cap space to make another big move.
They have some intriguing young pieces, but nobody who will significantly move the needle.